Alluring tunes
by manaika
Summary: AU!, yaoi. And then there was music. Wonderfull music and a heartbreaking ballad sung by a melodical voice. And he remembered ... A song the man knew by heart and those two skyblue diamonds rested on him, locked with his own prairie-golden hues. Conzak
1. Melody of the Nightfall and the Stars

I got inspired as I read Sapkowskij's „Sword of Destiny". It's AU, will be probably multichapter (though I have no plan how to continue it), main pairing Conzak. I hope you'll like it.

**Alluring tunes**** – Melody of the Nightfall and Stars **

It was twilight as the young man on his brown horse arrived at the small town near the mountains, next to the riverstream which crossed the whole country. It was clearly an agrar town with only a small amount of merchant carts and handicraft workshops, but it was too spacious to be called a village. And it obviously had a nightlife, which was slowly starting with the setting sun. The man stoped in front of an inn and got down from the mare and patted gently her neck. As he stepped inside the inn he headed straight to the bar, ignoring the curious glances he got from the other (3) occupants.

„Whiskey." He said.

„Money." Countered the cautious barman. The clothes of the man were dirty and not the newest. It was clear cotton, but low-trade. And they cost much less than the whiskey. Luckily, the man wasn't offended like any other bandit would be and wordlessly reached behind his worn out cloak for the moneybag, revealing for a little moment the simple sword dangling on his side. He throwed a few coins onto the bar. The barman regarded them closely with a sceptical look but after a while he finaly decided they were genuine and with a nod he poured the man a little of his whiskey. The man didn't complain as he took the whiskey and downed it with one gulp.

„Do you have free rooms?"

„Do you have money?"

The man throwed again wordlessly a few coins onto the bar and the barman nodded.

„Two nights."

„Agreed. Your room is upstairs, on the end of the floor." The man stood up without a word and went upstairs. He found his room quickly. It was probably the cheapest room the owner had, with one chair, one bed and one table. It was also small in size, but for the man it was enough. He looked around. He still had some time to wait for what he was here. So he went to the small window with no curtains and opened it, looking out, breathing in the chilly night-air. He saw the square, where people were gathering, wearing wonderfull clothes, laughing, eating, drinking. A wedding celebration. And then there was music. Wonderfull music and a heartbreaking ballad sung by a melodical voice. And he remembered...

He took his time to get to the celebration. At first he looked around, then went toone table, where the food was rapidly disappearing. Weddings in small towns were a public event and everybody could join the celebration as long as he knew how to drink, how to eat and how to have fun. The man knew how to do the first two. Having fun was not a part of his profession and he wondered how long it has been...how very long...

He got into a talk with some man, but he listened only halfway and replied onewordedly. The majority of his attention got the music, the sound of the lute and the melodical alto voice which sung a song he didn't know. The man loved music. He loved it since childhood, since he heard the lute for the first time, since he knew... He looked towards the singer. The female figure stood there, the long fingers stroking the cords almost softly, the lips open wide, singing one of the most beautifull songs the man ever heard. And then those eyes, those skyblue eyes, glinting in the light of the stars like diamonds, diamonds which always made him the richest man alive, even when his moneybag was empty. And he knew...

And suddenly another song started to sound, a song the man knew by heart and those two skyblue diamonds rested on him, locked with his own prairie-golden hues. The song was infinitely long, so long, so long ago...So very long ago...It made his heart ache and his smile soften, but he was rich, so rich....

As the song ended, the singer bowed by roaring applause and announced a small break and went behind a tent, to a spot which has been forgotten by the guests, a private spot, where you could see the stars shining brightly in the late twilight. The man followed.

The singer didn't even turn around as he approached, stood beside, stared without a word...

So the first to speak was the singer, with his deep, bottomless tenor voice.

„How long do you intend to stand there like a marble statue? Or do you need my permission to finally kiss me?"

And kiss they did. They kissed long, their lips wet, rough and passionate, filled with too many things to describe. There was need, there was love, there was lust and there was return. Return to where he belonged to. To this one person, to this singer... „Yozak, gods Yozak..."

„Conrad..." the singer whispered as they finally parted and their eyes met again. They didn't ask what the other was doing here, they knew that it was the wind of destiny which directed them into unknown directions, where no paths and roads were, only their feet on the cold earth of the forrest. „So long, so very long..." Yozak whispered and Conrad only nodded.

„I see you are well." He said and Yozak nodded.

„I get to sing occassionally. And since I can sing both, masculine and feminine, I have no problem to come to a job. So when I heard there was a wedding I thought, what is a wedding without a bard? So I came and asked whether they need a voice like mine. And as you can see, they needed an alto. And you? You look again like the last wanderer. Like a vagabond, or something."

Conrad smiled apologetically. „Money is low."

„But still enough for whiskey?"

„You are as astute as ever."

„No. I just have a nose. Which also tells me that you didn't change. Sweat, Blood, Earth, Dirt...But it's not that bad. Did you take a bath in the stream?"

Conrad smiled. „Two days ago. And you smell like always."

Yozak smirked. „Really? How would that be?"

„Different." It was true. Yozak didn't have a specific smell – he wore so many costumes, played s many roles, used so many perfumes...But somewhere underneath that, Conrad could distinguish the smell of wind, field flowers and forrest honey. And a good tavern.

After looking at him with that smile of his for a while, Yozak turned away and averted his gaze towards the nightsky, where billions of stars shone right down on them, bathing them in their diamond-light. And he was rich, so rich...

„Embrace me."

And Conrad did. Yozaks body was hot, so hot against his own cold skin, his neck was sweet against his salty lips, and later the night his cavern was wet against his own dry mouth. Yozak didn't ask what job he had to do this time, or how long he stayed. He didn't ask when or if they meet again. No, Yozak didn't ask, because Yozak never asked. He only sang.

-----------------------------------------------*

Yeah, short, but...did you like it? Should I continue? Or sign it as a One-Shot?


	2. Ballad of the Two Joined Hearts

So, since some of you requested a continuation, here it is. Hope ya'll like it – I hope I made it confusing enough *evil grin*

**Ballad of the „Two Joined Hearts"**

They were laying on the hard matress in the room, two naked bodies warmin eachother in the chilly night of the newmoon, pressed tightly together. Neither of them spoke. Neither asked. Because they knew... Yozak knew that the time left for them is short, he knew that the man next to him won't even wait for the sickle of the moon to appear. And he...he will wait only for the first sunstrays. They will part, again, who knows for how long, untill their differing paths cross again, who knows when, who knows where...

„I paid for two nights."

Yozak nodded, understanding. He would stay to see the sharp edge of the moon, cutting through the nightsky, like his sword cut through the flesh of so many enemies... But Yozak would wait for the first sunstrays which repel the darkness of the night, clearly winning without even having to fight. The two paths of two hearts, heading for the same end, crossing, differing, unsure...Only their hearts were joined, in one infinite thought. The thought of their two hearts joined in one, one being, two bodies, always together, far apart, like day and night, sun and moon, meeting only at twilight and dawn, melting together into one in a brilliant burst of colors...

„I didn't pay. I'm leaving the town in the morning."

„True, you always liked more to sleep with only the skies above you."

Yozak just smiled. His daylight-sky-blue eyes looked into the sunset-prairie-golden and seeked for something deep withing, a connection, melting together, melting together like their lips...

„Two nights..." he whispered against those raw lips and a flash of a thought crossed their minds, a split moment of understanding. „Two nights and one burst of sunlight

meeting in the twilight and the dawn,

completing the chain of the time,

the infinite cycle of life and death.

A neverending story enfolds and ends,

Like book opening and closing,

Like a river rising and meeting,

Like two hearts meet and melt,

Like two souls merge,

Like life which repeats itself."

Conrad was smiling at him. „Have you made it up now?"

„I'll call it the Ballad of the Two Joined Hearts".

„Sounds great."

„Just wait how it will sound with a lute. It will make a good alto."

Conrad laid a hand on the cheek of his beloved and traced his contures. „My beautifull poet..."

Yozak leaned into the touch and touched the hand on his face. „I could eventually make a ballad about the Newmoon Stars shining down on Love."

Conrad chuckled. „Where do you always get these ideas?"

„I read them in your eyes."

„I almost forgott how romantic you can get at night."

„It has been long enough to forgett...Let's make new memories from the few hours left."

„Sounds like an idea."

They kissed again. And then again. And again. And again, and again, and again, the kisses repeating like the infinite cycle of life and death...

*

As always, Yozak awoke with the first sunstrays which stroked gently his face. Conrad was still next to him, asleep, but Yozak knew that with the tiniest movement of him, the man would wake up. He was deciding whether it was good or bad, like he always did, but never came to an answer. So sighing, he sat up and went to retrieve his clothes, scattered around the room. He almost forgott that he wore female garments last night. His male clothes were in the bag on the back of his horse, which was...somewhere nearby. That inttelligent beast knew well enough how to hide, so that no thieves or bandits found it.

„So you're really leaving."

Yozak turned around to the man on the bed with a sad smile. „I am. But you know that. You knew that. So why do you ask?"

„Will you go through the forrest?"

Their eyes met and Yozaks understood. „We'll see." And with that he went to the door. He paused only for a moment as he asked: „Two nights?"

„Two nights." Was the only reply he got.

„It has been a long time since... We'll see." And with that he left definitely.

*

Fifteen minutes later, he sat on his horse, dressed in his male attire (which consisted of a simple tunic, a belt, tight pants, an undershirt and his beret with the feather from a skylark). They (he and his horse) were standing on the bridge over the sidestream „Ti-ěwa" (read: Tie-yeva – yes, I made it up) of the „Wide River", staring at the forrest in front of them.

His horse neighed nervously.

„You're right. People don't call for slayers without a reason." Yozak said.

A snort.

„I see we agree in this. Let's see...Two nights. That means tomorrow morning, meaning a few hours. Going through the fields – one day, meaning tomorrow morning..."

Another snort.

„And we'll stay alive."

A loud neigh.

„Clever boy." Yozak patted his stallion with a smirk on his face and turned around, going down from the bridge and then turned off the highway, into the wide fields. Just standing in front of that forrest gave him the creeps and apparently his horse agreed totally with him. And the fact that Conrad was in the town only multiplied those creeps. Conrads appearence always equaled bad news. Simply always. Yozak guessed it went with the job.

*

„The situation is very bad."

„So I see."

„Will you help us?" the bald man licked nervously his lips as he asked that. Obviously the whole story made him very worried. Maybe even scared. But Conrad understood that, he has seen it so many times – what human fear was able to do with people, with merchants, with soldiers, even with brave knights. It could turn them into a crying mess withing a few seconds, but it also could make them braver and stronger. Fear was a two-edged sword. Conrad Weller used a two-edged sword. He was strong.

„Of course I'll help you."

„Thank you, thank you, Your Grace, brave and kindhearted slay"

Conrad stood up, interrupting the ‚empty thank-you-speech' as he called it and said: „Show me where."

*

Yozak was right – it really took them the whole day to bypass the forrest. It was already the dead of the night as they arived at the other end, where the highway continued, where they would've come out in just 3 hours if they went through the forrest. Yozak jumped down from the stallion and as he did, he heard cawing in the distance, coming from the middle of the dark forrest. His look became melancholical as he heard the sound which, in poetry, symbolized death. Three hours, he decided, three hours, not a minute longer. He sighed.

„Time to rest Rory." He said and his only answer was a tired neigh.

He was woken by the gentle strokes of the wind and the sunstrays descending on his face. It was dawn.

_Two nights and one burst of sunlight meeting in the twilight and the dawn_

He stood up. His stallion neighed and followed the example of his master. Yozak swung himself onto the bare back of the horse and jerked a little with the reins. As they set foot onto the highway, a figure emerged from behind the trees and the darkbrown stallion fell into rhythm with the lightbrown mare. The riders were silent for a few moments. First to speak was Yozak.

„I added another stanza to the ballad. And I've got the melody for it. In the end, it's sung with tenor."

Conrad smiled. „Then sing."

Two nights and one burst of sunlight

meeting in the twilight and the dawn,

completing the chain of the time,

the infinite cycle of life and death.

A neverending story enfolds and ends,

Like a book opening and closing,

Like a river rising and meeting,

Like two hearts meet and melt,

Like two souls merge,

Like life which repeats itself.

Two hearts and two bodies,

Two souls and two minds,

dancing around the circle of time,

the chain of destiny leading their ways,

parting them, joining them, blowing away,

Like an eternal game,

Like the torch and the flame,

Like two hearts together in time and space,

Like two souls heading to one place,

Like life repeating itself.

Like the life which repeats itself.

Life repeats itself.

-------------------------------*

So, uh, what was it like? I hope I answered some questions and opened even more. ^_____^

Ah, yes, if anybody who plays lute (yeah, sure) wants to make a melody to that..."ballad" (how funny – note the sarcasm), feel free to do so. ^^"


	3. Melody of the Lonesome Soul

I know it has been quite a time since I updated this, but seriously, I didn't have much time to write. I do write, but I come only slowly forward. I have plans, I know what will happen, it's just that I don't have that much time to write it down. You'll have to have patience with me... I'm exceedingly sorry for making you wait for so long... And so you know, The Royal Heir and Lord and Lady Weller didn't die. I'm writing the chapters, they're just taking their time...

But anyways, now is this here! Hope ya'll enjoy it!

Also, thanks to my best friend x . juliett for the beta! (The only one I actually allow to look into my writings before they're published)

**The Melody of the lonesome heart**

„You aren't going to tell me about your last assignment, are you?"

„No."

A sigh. „It's not fair, you know."

Conrart and Yozak, friends since childhood, separated by the paths of their destiny, but brought together occassionaly, were now retsing on their journey. For now they would travel together – it has been too long since they had done that.

„I always tell you my poems and you never say a word about your assignemnts."

Yozak was a bard. Conrart was a slayer. Some would wonder how such different people could share so many feelings, but the ones who knew the pair, knew also about their past history.

At a very young age, Yozak became an orphan and had nobody in the whole world. That was untill one day, when he came across a wanderer, who, as Yozak learned, used to be a knight a long time ago. He has been taken in by him almost immediately. The wanderer had a son. A son named Conrart. And that was where it began.

They grew up together and became very close. Moreso because Conrart felt a sense of responsibility for Yozak, and Yozak felt indebted to the boy and his father, who had given him food and shelter as he was starved and were the inicial emotions which started that something between them, what quickly evolved into friendship and then, later, love. The carefree love of two boys who reached puberty, discovered something about themselves and enjoyed it to no end.

And then they were sixteen. That was the age when everybody decided on a proffession they wanted to do. There were twelve possibilities: Wizards, Healers, Slayers, Merchants, Craftsmen, Farmer, Lyricians, Knights, Soldiers (the difference between the last two was in the latter being paid), Worshipers, Sailors and Nobility. Many of them were determined already at the moment of birth – into a noble family, a merchant family, or a simple farmer family. Of course that didn't mean one couldn't abandon that profession and go to do something else instead, when they turned sixteen. To go with the family tradition was only the most convenient choice. Also, for some professions certain qualifications were needed – for wizards and healers, who needed the abilities enabling the control over The Power.

Yozak didn't posses such inclanations and neither did he want to spend his life killing, or fighting or reciting dull prayers for some spirit, or god he didn't even believe in. He could be a sailor, a farmer, or a craftsman – he had talent and skills acquired. But he didn't want to. It seemed boring to him. So all that was left, was lyrician. Back then, as he turned 16 it was the first thing which sprung into his mind. He didn't know why, or where exactly that idea originated from, but probably, it was his love for freedom and hatred for fighting. Not that he _didn't_ know how to fight. Actually, Yozak was a very good fighter. It was only that he hated the despair it brought – he had felt that emotion enough in his childhood.

And he loved the art of storytelling. While on journeys with his caretakers, Conrart's father would always tell them ballads about bravery, courage, honor, loyalty, knights and heroes, and also ballads which spoke about love and hope, virtue and fidelity, friendship and faith. And Yozak wanted to be able to do that too – to awaken emotions in the dulled hearts of the people he came across.

Conrart on the other side, chose despair. His father had been a knight, but for some reason, he never bothered to tell them, he was freed from that title, not worthy to call himself a man of such an honor and pride as a knight. Maybe that's why Conrart chose to be a slayer. As a slayer he could help the people, kill whatever enemy threatened them, without holding back, without any ostacles like honor, which meant not striking an oponent while his back was turned, not to kill somebody in his sleep, basically without everything the „Code of Honor" had, a codex of restrictions and rules for those who wanted to call themselves knights. And he got paid for it. Knights didn't get money from their „brave deeds for the better of humanity". It was an honor to help.

Not that Conrart cared about money. If he did, he could've chosen to become a soldier: a puppet in the hand of the king, whose pay was guaranteed, just as shelter and food, without needing to do anything productive, unless there was some sort of war, which currently wasn't the case. And soldiers also didn't have to make tough decisions – that was the job of their superiors. Soldiers only followed their orders, without rethinking their meaning or consequences. It was a very convenient profession. Convenient and, because of that, nothing the independent, stand-off-ish, with-a-strong-sense-for-justice Conrart Weller would choose to do. He chose the way of responsibility for his own actions.

Yozak always thought the two of them were polar opposites. Maybe that was why he used so many antonyms in his poetry: Su and Moon, Darkness and Light, Day and Night... and about them meeting somewhere, sometime,- at the break of the day, or at the approaching of the night. Just like the Day needed the Night, and the Night needed the Day, Yozak needed Conrart and Conrart needed him. But their paths rarely crossed. Conrart seeked despair, Yozak turned his back to it. Yozak was always surrounded by lively people who wanted to listen to his music and Conrart's ‚encounters' ended with death. Life and Death. Happiness and Despair. But gods, how they needed eachother, how they craved, how they wished to be together, forever, if possible, even longer.

„You know that I don't like to talk about my...assignments."

Yozak sighed and sat down next to him. „Yeah yeah, but you know, it still isn't fair." His tone changed and Conrart knew he wasn't reffering to his silence about his assignments anymore. „It isn't fair.."

Conrart sighed and pulled him closer. „I know. But I suppose that's life."

„That's life: A myrriad of moments gone,

a billion of regretts never undone."

Conrart stayed silent.

„And when the paths, which differ, cross,

sadness and pain evolves.

Gone is the sweet pleassure of love,

Gone is the innocence of youth.

What remains in the coldness of the Night?

Only a million stars and the dull Moonlight."

For a full minute there was a bitter silence. „Nah." Yozak said and his voice was back to it's normal, cheerfull, careless degree. „The last rhyme doen't fit well. I'll have to change it." And with that he leaned his back on Conrads chest, stretched his legs in front of him and crossed them, while he folded his hands in his lap and entwined his fingers. Conrart smiled a smile, which was only a tiny bit sad and laced with a fragment of regret, before he planted a kiss into the crook of his lover's neck.

Yozak smiled contentedly and closed his eyes. For now, this was enough. And who knows what the future might bring? Maybe there will come a day, when the darkness of the night merges with the light of the day and everything becomes one in one magnificent burst of brilliant shades of golden and red.

------------------*

Sorry for making you wait for so long with this chapter, but I was away for a long time, then I was working on other fics, then I got a new inspiration and before I knew it has been too long since I continued this. And now I have to disappoint you with such a short chapter. Forgive me?

The next one will be longer, I swear! For now, I just wanted to do an intake of their past and their relationship. And also of their personality and way of seeing life.

Hope you liked it anyway. Tell me. Speak to me. I can't read your mind.

Yes, with that I want to say: R&R!

Aki / mana


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